Donald Robertson

So there's a tiny, you know, when you're doing quite a scene, when you're really digging, you know, there's a hint there.

that Marcus's mum's family already have links to stoicism and connections with leading intellectuals.

She seems more into literature.

She's an expert on language and rhetoric.

She must be reading plays then and other literature.

There's not much indication directly linking her with philosophy.

Her family have a long history of being associated with the region of Italy that traditionally was colonized by Greece and speaks Greek.

So Marcus grew up in this household where he would have studied Greek literature and where his mum may have been steering him towards Stoic philosophy.

We're also told she lived quite in a steer.

She's another one of these billionaires, you know, who supposedly lives very simply.

And she's also said to be unlike the Roman elite in another way.

Frontal...

kind of notoriously says there's no word in latin for philistorgia or natural affection and he says because it's a quality he said i think he says this moment once it's a quality completely lacking among the roman elite but he clearly thinks that marcus is the exception and his mum and

But they're not typical Romans because they're kind of Gratianized to some extent.

So I think Fronto's kind of implying this is a quality that's more common in the Greek world.

He's definitely closer.

So in the letters with Fronto, she gets mentioned quite a lot.

And Fronto's always saying, oh, say hi to your mom and things like that.

But Marcus, even after he's married, I don't think he ever, or Faustina only gets mentioned very fleetingly.

Like, so it's interesting, you think they're, they always mentioned his mom, but they don't really mention his wife.